Tale 53: The Giant's Captive (Ash)

(real tale: Pastaris and the Giant)

[If I may ask, where did the gibberish songs you use for a character's spells come from?] Mai asks.

"I made them up for a telling of a tale called "The Giant's Captive--which I then taught Ash as his first tale" Brock explains. Then, something dawns on him. "Hey, Ash...why don't you try telling 'The Giant's Captive' for us?"

"Okay..." Ash clears his throat and begins "Once a fisherman and his son--let's call him Jiro--were at sea, when a terrifying giant appeared from the water and snatched Jiro from the boat. All Jiro's father could do was watch as his son was spirited away to the giant's lair. The giant took Jiro to a pitch black room and locked him inside, telling him to not light a fire under any circumstances."

"Why not?" Melody is curious.

"Jiro huddled under a blanket, but the biting wind made him shiver, and on top of that, kept hearing ghostly noises. But with no fire, he couldn't tell if they were other prisoners or ghosts. On the third night, Jiro decided he was going to defy the giant's instructions and build a fire--but with what?" Ash asks his audience.

Nervous giggles fill the air, but become uproarious laughter as Brock takes his guitar and starts playing the Mission Impossible theme as Ash continues "So that night, Jiro snuck out of the cave, took one of the boats moored to the shore, and sailed back to his father's house. Once there, he requested some matches, flint, and tinder. As he hid the items in his son's clothing, Jiro's father told Jiro that if he was planning to escape the giant's lair, his wits would be the most valuable thing he could have." He interjects as Brock stops the song "Thankfully, the giant had no idea Jiro had gone and returned."

Melody heaves a sigh of relief, but the Meowths still giggle at the song. "Jiro lit his fire, and found out the source of the crying he had heard--a princess!" Ash announces, to Happini's cheers. "She had not seen any light in some time, so she yelped in surprise when she saw the firelight. However, that surprised yelp was enough to wake the giant, and it chased after Jiro!" Gasps went up from the crowd at this as the guitar played a frantic melody.

Sighs of relief went up as the song calmed down, but all eyes were on Ash as he continued. "Jiro finally lost the giant and took shelter in an alcove somewhere on the island. As he caught his breath, Arceus appeared to him and said..."

In a low and deep male voice, Brock intones "Long has the giant caused suffering in the land, but if you were to slay him now, he would still live, as his soul is not in his body."

"Jiro asked Arceus how he could shatter the giant's soul, and Arceus replied..." Ash narrates.

In his "Arceus" voice again, Brock assures the audience "On the other side of the ocean in a palace courtyard stands a post. Hit this post with your finger, and a sword will fall down from the sky. With this sword, kill an Ekans in the forest, and a Buneary will appear and race away. Catch that Buneary and cut off its head, and a Pidove will appear. If you can catch the Pidove when it flies to heaven, an egg will fall, and in that egg is the giant's soul."

"Not a bad mimic of the Great Lord, if I say so myself." Melody smiles.

"Just as Arceus left Jiro, the giant discovered him!" Ash announces, making the crowd gasp. "Jiro was taken to a high mountain peak, where he was left to die. He spent two days shivering in the cold before working up the courage to climb down. The mountain path led to a forest, where he found four mages arguing over how best to divide the meat of a Stantler they had killed. Jiro skillfully cut the Stantler into four even portions. The mages each gave Jiro a mystical gem as a reward for helping them. The fire mage gave Jiro a ruby that would grant him Entei's strength and power. The wind mage gave Jiro an amethyst that would allow him to soar like the twin Eons. The water mage gave Jiro a sapphire that would allow him to swim like Kyorge. The earth mage gave Jiro an emerald that would allow him to dig as masterfully as Celebi."

[Wow...] Mai gasps.

"Just then, the giant found Jiro again, but this time, Jiro was prepared--he held the ruby high and called..." Ash then pauses to sing Jao wiisha nes chiel com yutuul...

He continues "Sure enough, Jiro glowed red with the power of Entei's fire, and managed to throw the giant to the ground. While this didn't kill the giant by any means, it did buy Jiro enough time to get to the shore minutes before the spell wore off."

[And then?] Korra gasped.

"Knowing the giant could find him at any moment, Jiro held the sapphire high and called..." With that, Ash sings Rou iitsa von selga vichi....

"Jiro glowed blue with the power of water, and easily swam to the palace courtyard with Kyorge's speed and grace. He easily found the post and touched his finger to it, and just as Arceus had said, a beautiful sword fell from the sky and landed at his feet." Ash continued. "Jiro wasted no time in killing an Ekans, and just as Arceus had said, a Buneary darted from the brush. Jiro knew that a human had no chance of catching up to a Buneary naturally, so he found his amethyst and sang..." He then sings Karuto, iichiida shou...

"You're doing great--and then what happened?" Misty asks.

"Jiro glowed with the purple energy of the wind, which gave him enough speed to catch up to the Buneary and cut off its head." Ash replies. "No sooner had he done this, did a Pidove appear and fly to the heavens...just as the spell wore off. So he evoked the amethyst again-- Karuto, ichiida shou....

"Pika?" Pikachu's eyes shine in anticipation.

"This time, Jiro was able to soar through the sky, much like Latios and Latias. He caught up to the Pidove and caught it, causing an egg to fall from the sky." Ash continues. After he landed and the wind magic had worn off, he took the emerald and invoked the earth magic within." He then sings Imultao, ame no ga bakeno... before continuing "Once Jiro had dug through the earth and located the egg, he returned to the island and smashed it on the rocks, killing the giant!" Cheers went up at this.

[He did it!] Mai cries.

"The princess was elated that someone had finally set her free." Ash concludes over a triumphant interlude from Brock. "They returned to Jiro's homeland, where they fell in love and married not long after their adventure. But Jiro kept the four magic gems with him, just in case he needed their power again."

Misty's applause is the loudest at this. "Bravo--you should tell us what Brock has taught you more often!"